H-0412HerbariumAsteraceae

Quorum Thistle

Cirsium consensus

Destroyed

A thistle colony that voted, measurably, on where to spread next, and was destroyed after its third vote.

Collected at: Fallow field near Telč
Date: summer 2004
Collector: Dr. R. Malá
Anomalies: Non-standard basesUnstable genome

Sequenced fragment

ATCGGATTXXXGCATXXCGATTAGCATCGXXATCGXXATCGATTAGCXXCGAT

53 bpGC 45%19 anomalousPositions marked X hold a base the sequencer cannot classify. Mass spectrometry suggests a fifth nucleotide.

Description

A field thistle about 60 cm tall with a stiff, spiny-winged stem and deeply lobed leaves tipped with fine spines. The single flower head, about 4 cm across, is bulb-shaped and covered in overlapping spiny bracts, opening into a tuft of pale pappus.

Observations

The colony grew as a tight ring of thistles of normal appearance. Time-lapse photography showed the seed heads turning in unison towards one direction before each dispersal.

Genetic analysis

Sequencing failed repeatedly at regular intervals. The unreadable positions contain a nucleotide the instrument does not recognise; mass spectrometry suggests a fifth base with a mass between guanine and adenine.

Cultivation

Not permitted.

Effects

The colony’s third dispersal was directed at the field station. The station was evacuated and the colony burned under supervision. A single sealed seed head remains in the Herbarium.

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